2nd Test victory over South Africa

Graeme Swann rightfully jumps for joy after gaining Hashim Amla's wicket on the 4th day of the 2nd Test v South Africa in Durban.

England won a great victory, with centuries from Alastair Cook (118) and Ian Bell (140) in their total of 574-9d. Graeme Swann (21o-3m-54r-5w)and Stuart Broad (17-3-43-4) then bowled the South Africans into the ground.

England's sensational win was by an innings and 98 runs: worth getting up early for and enjoying our new TV... Let's not forget that we almost lost the 1st Test (it went to the very last ball, with one England wicket left for SA to get to win) and look forward to the next Test (3 out of 4), starting on 3 Jan.

Times Online report is here

The Hangover (2009)

The Hangover - at last a really funny movie. Las Vegas-based, road movie with good twists, real laugh-out-loud moments and fast-paced.

IMDB 8.0/10 here

Messiah @ St Paul's Cathedral

Sang Messiah on Thursday, in St Paul's Cathedral. Difficult for the listening audience, but singing from the stage is a different experience - awesome.

Chilliqueen

Lee Everett, then wife of DJ and Comedian Kenny, visited the USA in 1979. During this trip Lee came across a tastebud revelation, a chilli pepper jelly, and was instantly hooked. On her return to the UK, Lee began developing her own unique version of a Chilli Pepper Jelly.

Although an accomplished cook, perfection was not easy to achieve, but once there, Chilli Jelly was born. The product was a huge hit with family and friends, with demand being so big that it quickly developed into a cottage industry, with Chilli Jelly being sold locally to a variety of fine food outlets. Hand-cooked batch runs went from 10 or 20  jars up to 1,000 jars in the final batch run. So it was no wonder that Kenny Everett, with his zany sense of humour, nicknamed her 'Chilliqueen'. The name has stuck and appeared on the jars as the brand ever since. Suggestions and recipes are on their website here.

Kenny Everett, my all-time favourite DJ - a truly inspired genius, who was placed on this planet to entertain:

Eat well, drink well and live well

"Eat well, drink well and live well" - a quote from Victor Sassie, proprietor of the Gay Hussar restaurant in Greek Street. Born August 28 1915, died June 7 1999. Restaurateur who became involved in catering in the early 1930s, sent by the British Hotel and Restaurant Association to Budapest, Hungary, to work for Karoly Gundel in 1932. He was working at the Hungarian Pavilion in New York, NY, by 1939, and then moved to the Budapest restaurant in London, England. After serving in the second world war, he reopened this restaurant in 1945, changing its name to the Gay Hussar by 1954.

The Gay Hussar has been favoured by politicians for many years. In the picture you can just make out the old blue-and-white plaque reading 'Recommended by Egon Ronay's Guides' - a blast from the past when Roy Ackerman owned both the restaurant and the guides...

Roy Ackerman quotes Victor Sassie on his Coolcucumber.tv food and drink online tv/video website here: www.coolcucumber.tv 

* Read the Grauniad obituary
* The Gay Hussar's webite is here.

Boymongoose - 12 Days of Christmas

www.boymongoose.com

John Peel - legendary DJ

Broadcasting legend John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, otherwise known as veteran Radio 1 DJ John Peel, OBE (awarded in 1998 for services to music). 

His eclectic taste and honest, subjective approach to new music attracted a warm-hearted audience since he started to grace the Radio 1 airwaves in 1967. He was very influential in his own, unique way, however he was usually too 'indie' for me, being more of a Bob Harris man.

John Peel - Margrave of the Marshes, the second half of which was completed by his wife, Sheila, is a love story masquerading as the part-autobiograpgy of a gentle philosopher who always threw in a salty dose of reality to his broadcasts and the way he lived his life. His belief in the primacy of Liverpool FC, the love of his wife and their Suffolk home (Peel Towers - actually, a thatched cottage, from where he broadcast in later years) and an intrepid drive to be different on Radio 1 are constant themes throughout the book. His favoured Radio 1 'rhythm pals' included Johnnie Walker, Kid Jensen, producer John Walters and Andy Kershaw.

His public-school ('imperfect') education at Shrewsbury belies him, but he also belittles it beautifully in the book by writing that his children would say that it provided him only with 'the sort of education that enables you to talk for about twenty seconds on almost any topic, although there is no one thing thing about which you know a great deal'.

Peel was a Private-Eye loving maverick with the gift of the gab, whose style and bravado I much admired and - curiously - have something in common with. Both he and I attended the Martin Luther King memorial service in St Paul's Cathedral; he was outside with the crowds, while I was inside, singing as a 13-year-old chorister.


The best £3.25 I've spent on a hardback book in ages, courtesy of a charity shop in Canterbury last summer.


* Grauniad: A Life in Pictures
* BBC1 Tribute site 
* Hear the voice of the legend and the sweet-eating game (courtesy of www.planetbods.org)
* Pics from the annual John Peel Day celebrated around the country


Human rights campaigner Martin Luther King preached at St Paul's Cathedral on his way to Oslo to collect the Nobel Peace Prize. Dr King preached to a full Cathedral at Evensong on 6 December 1964 (four years before he was assassinated), where he spoke of signs of a rapidly growing problem of race relations in Britain. 'We must not seek to rise from a position of disadvantage to one of advantage, substituting injustice of one type for that of another,' he said. 'God is not interested in the freedom of white, black or yellow men, but in the freedom of the whole human race.'

Georgia O'Keefe - Red Poppy

Georgia O’Keeffe, 1956, by Yousuf Karsh

In perhaps one Karsh's most famous photographs, Karsh travelled from his studio in Ottawa, Canada to Abiquiu, New Mexico, to capture American painter Georgia O’Keeffe for a portrait around 1956. He later wrote that he had hoped to find in her “some of the poetic intensity of her paintings.” Instead Karsh found “the austere intensity of dedication to her work.” He made a quiet portrait of the distant O’Keeffe during a moment of repose in her home.

'I hate flowers - I paint them because they're cheaper than models and they don't move.' Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986)

Observe and Report (2009)

Simply the stupidest movie I've seen for a long time. Why did I watch it? Because two 18-year-olds convinced me it 'might be good'. It was awful, so bad, in fact, that it raised the odd titter.

IMDB rating 6.1/10

In The Loop (2009)

Funny, but not hilarious. Razor-sharp dialogue. Peter Capaldi (from The Thick of It) is the UK Government's relentless Director of Communications. A few classic moments, though, when Capaldi's Scottish brogue just gives it the lift required: "Fuckety-bye-bye then!" 

The US President and UK Prime Minister fancy a war. But not everyone agrees that war is a good thing. The US General Miller doesn't think so and neither does the British Secretary of State for International Development, Simon Foster...

IMDB rating 7.7/10

The Sun - 40th anniversary

The Sun's 'must-have hand-held accessory of 2009, with 26-inch panoramic matt CMYK, full-colour display'. 40 years old and still going strong...

Source: PaidContent.org

These cats "can't sing"?

The Telegraph Online seems to have worked out that lists of 'interesting' facts draw site traffic from around the world.

According to their list here, Bob Dylan, among others, 'can't sing'. Wrong. 

Don't shoot the messenger...
How about a list of people who can sing, but shouldn't? Top of my list would be Mariah Carey and Celine Dion.

Trumpet Crumpet

Winner of the Female Artist of the Year Brit Award 2009, Alison Balsom make the trumpet more attractive than ever before. Her jazzy interpretation of a Gershwin song on the Last Night of the Proms in September won me over, showing that she's potentially as versatile as Nigel Kennedy. 


Crossover often gets a bad name, but I see nothing wrong in reinterpreting Vivaldi violin and oboe concertos (her new album of Italian baroque concertos should be out before Christmas). She's a cool 'trumpetress', who even includes Dizzy's Tin Tin Deo on YouTube as part of her inspiration:

Will the net toll to the sound of tuppences?

The pay-for-website-news-content debate hots up as Rupert Murdoch says that Google search referrals are of little interest to him in the future and that news is defintitely not going to be free. Meanwhile, a survey says that petrol-head journalist Jeremy Clarkson may be worth 2p per article, using micropayments. Tuppence?

Grauniad: For whom the net tolls 
Brand Republic: Clarkson tops list of possible paid content earners
Brand Republic: Is Murdoch really plannng a Google free future?

Photo: William West, AFP, Getty Images

Grannie and her radio...

Just when you have lost faith in human kindness...

Someone who teaches at an Elementary in Thorsby forwarded the following letter. The letter was sent to the principal's office after the school had sponsored a luncheon for the elderly. An elderly lady received a new radio at the lunch as a prize and was writing to say thank you. This story is a credit to all humankind.

Dear Thorsby School:

God bless you for the beautiful radio I won at your recent senior citizens luncheon. I am 84 years old and live at the Sunnybrook Assisted Home for the Aged. My family have all passed away and I am alone so thank you for your kindness to a forgotten old lady. My roommate is 95 and has always had her own radio, but she would never let me listen to hers, even when she was napping. The other day her radio fell off the nightstand and broke into a lot of pieces. It was awful and she was in tears. She asked if she could listen to mine but I told her to fuck off.

Thank you for that opportunity.

Sincerely,
Edna

Trick or treat, sick and sweet?

Halloween, schmalloween. Trick or treat, my arse.

Nice pumpkin soup, though. Thanks, Frances.

The Boat That Rocked (2009)

The Boat That Rocked (2009 - Richard Curtis). IMDB 7.6/10 - nonsense. Rubbish movie, but with an awesome soundtrack of 60s' hits:

Elenore - The Turtles
Crimson and Clover - Tommy James and the Shondells
Ooh Baby Baby - The Temptations
Hi Ho Silver Lining - Jeff Beck
I've Been a Bad, Bad Boy - Paul Jones
The End of the World - Skeeter Davies
and more...

Murdoch goes to war...

The Boss (pic by Annie Liebovitz for Vanity Fair)

Interesting article in Vanity Fair, Nov 2009 edition, in which Rupert Murdoch expounds his vision of paid-for content. He's out on a limb, but isn't that what he does well?

"Rupert Murdoch is going to battle against the Internet, bent on making readers actually pay for online newspaper journalism—beginning with his London Sunday Times. History suggests he won’t back down; the experts suggest he’s crazy. Is he also ignoring his industry’s biggest problem?

War is Rupert Murdoch’s natural state..."

Genius - Tim Minchin and Jamie Cullum

Sydney Harbour Bridge Brekkie

Photo: Charles Brewer for News.com.au (The Australian)

6000 picnickers sat on 10,000 square metres of specially-laid turf for Sydney's inaugural Breakfast on the Bridge, part of 'Crave Sydney', a month-long festival showcasing the city's entertainment, food and art. 

Original and extraordinary, but where was Australia's legendary sunshine?

Mercedes heads for the Highlands

Times Online reports on the retirement of 27-year-old Mercedes, Britain's only polar bear, to her new home in Kingussie. She joins her former fellow Edinburgh Zoo residents, the red pandas and the Amur Tigers, who are all enjoying the colder climate of the Scottish Highlands. The new polar bear enclosure, which is the size of four football pitches, is the largest in the world by bear-to-space ratio. Canadian-born Mercedes has a life expectancy of three more years in which to enjoy her new-found freedom (of sorts).

Olde-worlde Google map

Witty, very witty. Complete with 'Hilltop View', search, advertising links and map markers. I would credit the source of such wit, but I can't find out who actually thought this up...

View it larger here.

Trippy Alice

Click here to go tripping with Alice...

YouTube API shark

Cool use of the YouTube API feed from the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium. Sadly, it's no longer live, but it featured constantly-refreshed videos made at the aquarium, pulled in via API then formed in the shape of a shark, which swims gracefully through an ocean. Mesmerising - and an intelligent, creative use of technology by Asahi Advertising Inc.

Using the Google Japanese translation toolbar brings the following unique insight into Asahi's world of Japanese advertising: If the media instrument, the content inside. Help stimulate communication and interesting content, cross-media era effectively move people and goods. We provide a variety of content developed according to the needs of consumers and society.

Whassup?

Free Rice.com

Be as smart as Stephen Fry, by knowing the definitions of obscure words and donating free rice through the UN World Food Program at www.freerice.com

Fraktur, Flabelliform, Katzenjammer, Cockalorum, Melilot, Propaedutic, Nullo, Grampus, Pung, Kop, Klieg, Asseverate, Scute, Entelechy, Kampong, Rial, Suttee, Lavolta, Piassava, Discerption, Partita, Pitchblende, Saury, Stromuhr...

How to write right

The Times Style Guide is an invaluable guide to 'correct' writing - or, at least, to the way that The Times does it. For example: 


* apostrophes with proper names/nouns ending in s that are singular, follow the rule of writing what is voiced, eg, Keats's poetry, Sobers's batting, The Times's style (or Times style); and with names where the final “s” is soft, use the “s” apostrophe, eg, Rabelais' writings, Delors' presidency; plurals follow normal form, as Lehman Brothers' loss etc

Note that with Greek names of more than one syllable that end in "s", generally do not use the apostrophe "s", eg, Aristophanes' plays, Achilles' heel, Socrates' life, Archimedes' principle; but note Jesus's (not Jesus') parables. Beware of organisations that have variations as their house style, eg, St Thomas' Hospital, where we must respect their preference. Also, take care with apostrophes with plural nouns, eg, women's, not womens'; children's, not childrens'; people's, not peoples'.

Use the apostrophe in expressions such as two years' time, several hours' delay etc.

An apostrophe should be used to indicate the plural of single letters - p's and q's

* management-speak do not succumb, for example, to describing an organisation as meaninglessly as what was suggested in a press release: "interested in non-face-to-face, high-volume, low-unit-cost solutions that would require the front-loaded investment the voluntary sector cannot acquire". See 'jargon'.

* News International Rupert Murdoch is chairman and chief executive of News Corporation (second mention, News Corp), a name changed in November 2004 from The News Corporation Limited after incorporation in the United States; it can be described as "parent company of The Times".

A subsidiary of News Corp is News International (its full title is News International Ltd; was News International plc until June 2003), a British company that owns Times Newspapers Holdings. The operating subsidiary of Times Newspapers Holdings is Times Newspapers Ltd, publisher of The Times and The Sunday Times. Times Newspapers Holdings is chaired by Mr Murdoch and the board includes the independent national directors of The Times and The Sunday Times. It is thus the controlling company.

News Group Newspapers, another operating subsidiary of News International, is the publisher of The Sun and News of the World (and Sunday Magazine).

TSL Education Ltd (formerly Times Supplements Ltd) was another operating subsidiary of News International which published The Times Educational Supplement, The Times Higher Education Supplement, The Times Literary Supplement, Nursery World, TES College Manager and TES Primary magazine. Worldwide Learning Ltd, a subsidiary of TSL Education, is a provider of global distance learning solutions. The Times Literary Supplement is still owned by News International.

The Times Educational Supplement is now better known simply as the (l/c, roman) TES; what was The Times Higher Education Supplement is now Times Higher Education and branded as the (l/c, roman) THE. Both publications, with Nursery World and other publications, are still owned by TSL Education, but that company and its titles were bought from News International by Exponent Private Equity in 2005.

News Ltd is the Australian arm of News Corp.

Twentieth Century Fox (or 20th Century Fox in logo form), Fox News, Fox Sports etc are part of the Fox Entertainment Group, which is 82.1 per cent owned by News Corp.

Mr Murdoch does not "own" any of these companies, though his family is the largest single (though not majority) shareholder in News Corp. See BSkyB, Murdoch, Rupert, The Times

* BSkyB News Corporation, parent company of The Times, owns 39.1 per cent of BSkyB (British Sky Broadcasting Ltd). So use the formula: BSkyB, in which News Corporation, parent company of The Times, has a 39.1 per cent stake ... Sky can also be called an associate company of News International, or of News Corp. See News International, The Times

* Brummie (not Brummy), Geordie, Scouse etc, people and dialect, all capped. See Cockney

* breastfeed(ing) no longer use hyphen

* e-mail but note E-Stamp, a registered trademark; note e-commerce

* jellybean one word

* poppadum

* possessives do not use inelegant "geographic possessives" such as London's East End, Colorado's Breckenridge ski resort: write the East End of London, Breckenridge, the Colorado ski resort. Similarly, do not use the possessive in phrases such as BBC One's Panorama programme: write the BBC One Panorama programme, or simply Panorama on BBC One


and much, much more pedantry...

ILT #1 Tunnock's Tea cakes

I Like This #1: Tunnock's Teacakes - simply the best teatime treat. Childhood memories in every bite of chocolate and marshmallow. 3m of them made every week (great 'Engineer' TV ad here) and only 106 kcal per 'biscuit' .


Tunnock's site. Click on the News link and you'll see that nothing newsworthy has happened - excellent (and just as it should be - leave 'em alone). There's an excellent Snack Hunt retro game here.

Frankie said Relax (on the River)

The Thames in the rain, free booze, alcohol-soaking fodder and those glorious 80s' disco sounds - Frankie said "Relax", so we did, ending with a quick rendition of the Kings of Leon Sex on Fire.

66: all the sixes, Clickety Click

The Conservatives plan to increase retirement age to 66 from 2016, 10 years earlier than previously planned. So, only 12 years to go until I get my hands on the government's free money (my money, actually - it will be payback time). The current government's plans also aimed to raise retirement age by one year each decade after 2106, so to 67 in 2036 and so on - so I'm looking forward to getting stuffed by any government, be it Labour or Conservative...

View partial source: Times Online

IWOOT #9 - Dent Big Ben Watch

Good enough for Simon Cowell, good enough for me (but without the diamonds, thanks). Happy Birthday, Mr Cowell.

www.dentlondon.com

The Johnny Otis Show - Hand Jive

The Johnny Otis Show, Three Tons of Joy demonstrate the Hand Jive.

The Treniers: R-A-G-G-M-O-P-P

The Treniers - jumpin' and jivin' with the best of 'em...

IWOOT #8 - Planet Waves

(left) Visions of J, inspired by Visions of Johanna (100% montepulciano grape), and (right) the round, fruity Planet Waves (75% montepulciano, 25% merlot), named after the 1974 Dylan album. (Below) Antonio Terni.

Inspired by Bob Dylan's autobiography and a CD of his Theme Time Radio Hour (a great showcase for Dylan's droll observations and little-heard, often off-the-wall early pop), I came across wine inspired by the great songsmith.

Dylan has an association with Fattoria Le Terrazze, the excellent producer in Le Marche (home of the ubiquitous Verdicchio wine), an undersung but rising region on the Adriatic coast of Italy. Le Terrazze is run by Dylan fanatic Antonio Terni, a yachtsman and former nuclear scientist who was profiled in Lawrence Osborne’s snarky chronicle, “The Accidental Connoisseur: An Irreverent Journey Through the Wine World.’’


However, at 39 squid a bottle from Berry Bros & Rudd, it will have to remain in the IWOOT league...


View partial source: New York Times, Dining & Wine & Telegraph.co.uk: The vines they are a-changin''

State of Play x 2

Only realised after 10 minutes of watching the 2009 Russell Crowe/Ben Affleck film (IMDB 7.4/10) that it was the same, abridged story from the 2003 BBC State of Play series (IMDB 8.7/10). Both good in their own ways, but the 5hr BBC series had more depth in plot, even if it lacked the richness of the film. Bill Nighy as the newspaper editor was a classic part, not matched by Helen Mirren in the film. Russell Crowe was great as the unstoppable, long-haired investigative journalist.

Good to hear Creedence Clearwater Revival's Long As I Can See The Light over the end credits.

Laudate Choir concert, StJSS

To St John's Smith Square, one of the 'masterpieces of English Baroque', in Westminster for an evening concert by The Laudate Choir and City of London Sinfonia under conductor Howard Ionascu, with soloists Erica Eloff (soprano), Joana Seara (soprano), Robin Bailey (tenor), Rupert Reid (bass). Programme: Handel My Heart is Inditing, Gabriel Jackson Salve Regina and Mozart Mass in C minor K427. 

Fine singing and a fine performance, but just sad to see only around 240 audience in an 800-seater concert auditorium on a Friday night. 

Nice bottle of Viognier, though, beforehand in the Footstool crypt restaurant to settle the week's nerves and set the  mood.

Trounced by the Aussies

So, Ricky Ponting (111*) and opener Shane Watson (136*) blew us away in the Champions Trophy semi-final in Supersport Park Centurion (Verwoerdburg) with a nine-wicket win and 8.1 overs to spare. Indeed, they showed their ultimate superiority and should doubtless go on to win the tournament. Ponting joined India's Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka by being only the third batsman to reach 12,000 one-day international (ODI) runs.

Now who won The Ashes this summer? Let us ponder on that ... or we can let The Mail Online remind us here how they celebrated.

It's Samba time in Rio

It's Samba time for the Rio Cariocas, as they win the race to host the 2016 Olympics. Mr & Mrs Obama sure ain't happy...

Chicago lose race for 2016 Olympics

Barrack Hussein Obama II - not a man who likes to lose (or waste a transatlantic trip to Copenhagen).

View partial source: Times Online story & Google blog.

Laughter is the best medicine

Up yours, world, seems to be the message from Swami Ramdev (he of the 20m viewership for his daily TV programme in India) as he turned the tiny Scottish isle of Little Cumbrae into an international yoga retreat ('Peace Island') yesterday. Times Online has an article on how the Indian yoga 'guru' came to Scotland to promote his very own brand of mumbo-jumbo. I simply don't believe in giving people false hope, promoting quackery or any other such claims to cure cancer et al. The Scots (Daily Record article) don't seem to be bowled over by the orange-robed one.

Laughter is the best medicine... here's my favourite Indian guru with long hair:

Video from the edge of Space

Balloon Experiments with Amateur Radio (BEAR). Watch Hi-Def video here from a camera suspended below a balloon disappear to the edge of Space and back down to Earth. Watch the story on Discovery Channel Daily Planet.

UK Newspaper cover price hike history

You can't argue with the facts:

The average (UK newspaper) cover price rose 28.2% from 51p in 2001 to 71p for the first seven months of 2009. At the same time, the total annual circulation of the 10 dailies fell 19.11%. That’s a perverse correlation, but papers have little choice in the face of falling evaporating custom and falling ad sales

We're going to be asked to subsidise the papers soon enough. 

News ain't gonna be free no more online...

Source: Paid Content, Paywalls & Cover prices.

The Wire - Series 2

Finally made it to the end of The Wire Series 2. Awesome entertainment - thoroughly deserving of all the plaudits, but can't watch it piecemeal. Simply have to watch it episode by episode with the least time between watching them. Never been so captivated by a TV series. If anybody can tell me what the hell went on in Series 2 let me know - actually, I'm only joking, but you gotta keep your attention fixed or you'll miss half of the clever writing. Normally, I haven't got the patience to watch things twice, but this deserves re-watching. Great soundtrack. 


* More info here.
* Just love the way IMDB rates it at 9.7/10!